If you have been beach bound this summer, especially with little ones, I am sure a load of collected seashells have made the travel back home home with you. For me, these little beachcomber treasures are packed with memories of sandy toes and carefree days – and are just too precious to toss aside.

This week’s Saturday Inspiration & Ideas is dedicated to preserving these collected trinkets. Seashells are such an inexpensive way to add color and texture to your decor and these 60 different concepts will hopefully inspire you to put them to good use.

What an awesome post!! Thank you SO much for collecting these ideas in one place. I want to “pin” them all. :)I’m a HUGE fan of the beach. We’ve lived in FL for the last few years, and now we are doing a beach office redo. I’m excited to incorporate some of these ideas!

I love all these ways to use shells. Being a Florida resident, I do have my fair share of shells, but these are all new and fresh to me for the most part. I had a large collection of shell dolls when I was a young girl but the shells eventually disintegrated, so I know they don’t last forever. While they do, though, they are a delightful addition to our “shells”. I’m going to go pick out a nice one for my pastry, too; I love that idea!

I’m always looking for new ways to integrate our extensive seashell collection into the overall vibe of our home without making it look like a kitchy vacation rental. These are all awesome! thanks, Diane

heres another idea, i had inspiration from my honey moon in santa cruz- supplies: corkboard(i used a dark, chunkier board), a dollar store picture frame, display pins(not sure what theyre really called, theyre the ones used to hold bugs?) seashells of all different sizes, and a knife or scissors to cut the cork.. cut the cork to fit inside the frame, and glue it in(make sure you remove the glass, do with the glass what you want it has no place in this project =} )then fold over the clips that hold the original inserts onto your cork for extra support, start with the bigger shells work your way smaller(i also used a starfish =]) and position them on your cork how you want them to be, for the bigger heavier ones, use your pins, push through the back of your cork and then bend the tip to securely hold your shell, put a thin bead of craft glue onto your shell where it will touch the cork, and put it on your hook and push onto your cork, continue to do this with all of your shells, the smaller ones will stay with just glue=] once dry, spray with a clear coat paint and let that dry as well. ta-da! 3d wall art! hang it on your wall and enjoy! =]

I am inland but work with shells also. One idea-fill a scallop shell with potpourri, glue on netting to hold it in place, add lace around edges if desired to hide glued edges. It isn’t necessary if you glue to the underside of the shell, and clip closely. Add a teeny silk rose on a matching bow and hanging loop of 1/8 inch silk ribbon. I do them in sets of colors, and add potpourri oil to scent.

Use the “snail shell” type shells, (there are several), put a line of the teeny cream pearls around the opening. Add a silk rose on a bow with a hanging loop of 1/8 inch satin. Option: instead of pearls, paint a wide band (1/8 in.) of gold, silver, brass, or copper, then add a cream bow and loop, or a jute one.

Add some teeny shells and a bit of dowel painted like a lighthouse, with checks or spiraled stripes, inside a scallop shell. Letter over the top edge the name of a popular beach, then add a bow and hanging loop of satin or jute. Stick a short piece of grass stem with seeds in the shells and glue in place, Add a teeny piece of coral or beach glass if you wish.

Glue a cream ball type bead on top of a scallop shell, with a gold thin cord for a hanging loop, with the top facing you. Add a gold cord bow to hide the join, and glue 1/4 in. eyelet lace around all edges, including head. Paint on features if desired. This makes a beach baby.

Glue a wooden ball type bead with a gold thin cord threaded through it onto a scallop shell, with the top facing you. Take a short strip of gold braiding or ricrac, and wrap it around the neck, and down the front, crisscrossing it at one inch below top of shell. Add fabric, lace, ribbon, or little brass “wings” to make a beach angel. Glue on a teeny bit of spanish moss for hair, add eyes and mouth “dots” if you wish.

Cut a short length of 1/8 or 1/4 in. ribbon. Turn a scallop shell with the open side up. Glue the “hanging cord on either end of the shell, like a cradle. Cut short lengths of 1/8 in. ribbon, make bows, with long tails, and glue at either end. Add a rose if you wish, or a tiny shell. Fill the “cradle” with tiny shells, or a teeny bird on a Sp. moss nest, or 3 navy beans in a “nest”, bird seed and peanut butter, or aany similar grouping. The nest ideas are perfect for topping pinecones also. They can be adapted for Victorian, woodsy, or shabby chic looks by changing the trims slighly.

I also glue on red, white (silver) and blue small plastic stars on the inside of a scallop shell, then with a black sharpie marker, write “Proud to be Cherokee” (Melungeon, Irish, etc.) These get red or blue or white hanging loops and bows, with a star on the bow.

Place a pretty scallop shell with the back facing you. Glue on 5 pearls, evenly spaced, along its lower edge ( or rhinestones). Add a pale pink or mauve or cream hanging loop and bow, with a pearl or rhinestone glued to it.

Add a bit of fabric (teeny design or solid pastel color), and a dab of cotton to an upended scallop shell. Hot glue edges down inside edges, or go over sides, and glue on underside. Add teeny lace trim if you wish to hide raw edges. Stuff full. Add a matching hanging loop and bow of satin. Glue a button onto the center of the bow for trim. Glue on 2-3 teeny buttons, and stick in a couple of stickpins to make a pincushion. You can add a teeny pr. of manicure size scissors on a ribbon hanging off the shell.

Spent quite a while scrolling down this absoultely gorgeous list of ideas for using shells! Thanks for putting it all together. I’ve only recently (like just over a month ago) taken an interest in beach crafts, sea glass, shells, pebbles etc and am just itching to try some of these wonderful shell craft ideas. Found your site via Pinterest, and will be pinning two or three images from this page to my boards – not just great ideas these, but also great photos, good for sharing.

Just love all the shell craft ideas! Now I can use all the sea shells I’ve collected from my trips to Myrtle Beach Sc, Cape Cod, Ma and Florida-my husband always complains that I bring all these shells home in the car…(in the trunk in baggies)… He says, I never will use them all, Ha, now, I will show him! Then I will need to take another trip….To Get MORE shells! God bless and thank you!

Thanks for all the ideas! I’ve been to Thailand the past two years and have SO many shells. I told myself I wasn’t going to get any this trip. I’m a collector and can’t help picking them up. I liked the shadow box idea. I had the same idea, maybe if there wasn’t a lot of shells, I’d add a picture of the beach I got them from to the background. I’d add the name/place of the beach where I got them from. I’m thinking of a shadow box for each place I/we went. Some shells have more meaning than others and I like the idea of having them each in their own shadow box. 🙂

Thankyou so much stephanie for sharing all your
crafty ideas with sea shells,i live on the mid
north coast of n.s.w Australia…& all our beaches
here are absolutely stunning my daughter & i
often go to the beach to collect shells as we are only 5 minutes away..but found all your craft stuff so inspiring thankyou so much for sharing
your page is briilant “congratulations”..

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